Jan. 11 vs. Seattle Kraken at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Seattle Kraken (17-14-9)
Washington Capitals (19-13-6)
Washington’s season long five-game homestand continues on Thursday night when it hosts the Seattle Kraken’s lone visit to the District this season. The Caps have won one of three games on the homestand to date (1-2-0); Saturday’s matinee match against the Rangers concludes the team’s current extended stay in D.C.
Following a grueling patch of schedule in which they played back-to-back games as well as three games in four nights over a stretch of five straight weeks, the Caps were finally able to catch their breath after notching one of their most significant victories of the season on Sunday against Los Angeles. After an off-day on Monday, the Caps had consecutive practice days for the first time in nearly a month on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Caps rallied to take the middle match of the homestand on Sunday, claiming a 4-3 victory over the visiting Kings. After Los Angeles snapped a 2-2 deadlock with Kevin Fiala’s go-ahead, power-play goal early in the third period, Washington responded.
Outscored by a combined 12-1 in the third period of its previous seven games, the Caps got a tying tally from Nicolas Aubé-Kubel off the rush midway through the frame, then won the game when Aubé-Kubel and linemates combined to manufacture John Carlson’s go-ahead goal in the final minute of regulation, just the second go-ahead goal ever by a Caps’ blueliner in the last minute of regulation. (Now a member of the Kraken, Justin Schultz was the first Caps’ defenseman to do so; his late game-winner came on Jan. 26, 2021 at Capital One Arena, albeit in a building bereft of fans.)
Carlson’s game-winner was his 144th career NHL goal, tying Sergei Gonchar for second place for most goals by a Washington defenseman. Carlson is now five goals behind all-time leader Kevin Hatcher (149) in that department.
Prior to Sunday’s game, Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery noted that his team was different than it was at season’s outset nearly three months ago.
“We’ve got now some newer guys that are getting into the mix,” said Carbery, hours before Sunday’s game. “So I feel at least like our group has changed a lot since the beginning of the year, when we were getting on a little bit of a roll, winning those real tight games, even though we were getting outplayed a little bit.
“I think our group has changed quite a bit, so we’re still trying to work those pieces in to really, truly understand what we need to do as a team, and where we’re at, where our strengths are, and where our weaknesses are, and how do we win games in this League against good teams. I still think we’re trying to figure that out with our personnel that we have, and a little bit younger – without [T.J. Oshie], without Sonny Milano, without [Rasmus] Sandin. So we’re still working through that.”
A few days later, the Caps are still working through some of those absences. Milano (upper body) practiced in a light blue non-contact sweater during both days on the ice this week, but Sandin (upper body) didn’t practice on either day. Caps’ captain Alex Ovechkin was on the ice briefly before practice on Wednesday, but he departed early and his status for Thursday’s game will be determined at some point on Thursday.
On the good news front, goaltender Charlie Lindgren has been activated and is healthy and ready to roll once again. Winger Tom Wilson practiced wearing a fishbowl-type shield to protect his probiscis after taking a gloved-butt-end to the nose – courtesy of Kings’ rookie Alex Laferriere – early in the third period of Sunday’s game.
And finally, it’s highly possible that the Caps will have Oshie back in the lineup for Thursday’s contest against the Kraken. Oshie was a full participant at Wednesday’s practice, skating on a line with Max Pacioretty and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
“Best case scenario is I’m ready to rock [Thursday],” says Oshie. “So we’ll see how the [post-practice] workout goes here, and then tonight and tomorrow.”
“He should be ready to go,” says Carbery of Oshie.
Pacioretty is one of those new pieces to whom Carbery refers; the veteran left wing has played just three games with Washington after rehabbing from a second torn Achilles’ tendon. Pacioretty has shown notable improvement in each of those games, but he is still ramping upwards.
“I wouldn’t say too comfortable,” says Pacioretty, asked how he’s feeling. “The team is in a spot where we want to build off that [Los Angeles] game. And myself personally, I’m kind of aligned perfectly with that, in the sense where I want to get better every game. I have gotten better every game, but I know that I have a long way to go. But the good news is that hopefully I can help my team win along the way, and that’s what I plan on doing.”
Pacioretty did exactly that on Sunday, making a strong defensive play in the offensive zone to strip Kings’ center Pierre-Luc Dubois of the puck. A second or two later, Dylan Strome scored, giving Pacioretty his first point as a Capital, and giving Washington a one-goal lead for the second time in the game.
With Pacioretty and recently signed defenseman Ethan Bear both working their way back to game shape after missing the first half of the season, there is some promise and some upside to the second half of the season. With that in mind, and with Carbery noting the change and the difference in his squad from opening night, he was asked to reflect upon the growth he has seen in the group in his first half season behind the bench.
“A lot of maturity from our group, especially from our young players,” says Carbery. “Growth in their individual games, but also in their contribution to the team. So that’s number one; I think we’ve seen a lot of that from our young players. I think from a whole standpoint – our structure, understanding what we need to do on a nightly basis, and our identity, even though you could argue that we’ve sort of stumbled a little bit over the last 10 games or whatever it’s been – I still feel better about our group’s understanding of who we are, and how we need to play, and our identity when we’re successful.
“I feel really good about that, and I feel like most nights our structure, guys know and are very organized with what they need to do and where they need to be. And when we do have breakdowns, I feel like it’s individual little things inside of our structure that we just need to be a little bit more consistent with. Overall, to me, there’s been a lot of growth in a lot of different departments, and now it’s just a matter of trying to build results in the second half, up into the All-Star break.”
From Nov. 24-Dec. 10, the Kraken suffered through an eight-game slide (0-6-2) that sent it spiraling downward in the Pacific Division standings. But Seattle has righted the ship and then some since, picking up a point in each of its last 11 games (9-0-2), a franchise record. Seattle has yielded a combined total of just 15 goals in those last 11 games, a stretch that includes two Seattle shutouts and five instances of the Kraken limiting its opposition to a single goal.
The Kraken opened a six-game road trip on Tuesday night in Buffalo, taking a 5-2 win over the Sabres. Tuesday’s win was the Kraken’s seventh in succession, a game shy of the franchise record of eight straight victories, established at this time last year (Jan. 1-14, 2023).
